Racial bias still too real in jury selection

4:32 PM,
Jun. 20, 2013

Written by

Chris Dixon
ON THE LEFT

Before we get into the nuances of North Carolina's Racial Justice Act of 2009 (RJA) let me make clear that I am not opposed to the death penalty. Some crimes are so heinous and some criminals so unredeemable that they simply need to go.

North Carolina currently has 153 people on death row. That total includes 60 white men and two white women; 79 black men and one black woman; seven American Indian men, and four "other" men. The longest-serving resident is a white man, who has been on death row for murder since 1985.

Our state's Republican legislature and governor have struck the RJA from the books. ...